God is Good

I am so blessed the way God meets all my needs. This has been a difficult week. The lift for my scooter and my pickup both broke down this week -- on the same day! But after two days in the garage and a trip to Amarillo to get the lift fixed, truck and lift are up and running again.

I thank God for taking care of me in the hard times and the good. He really is everything I need.

God has always been my provider, and I'm learning to lean on Him even more since I've quit work. He always comes through right on time.

Lately, it seems that I've had a large unexpected expense every month. This month, it was the repairs on my truck. Last month, it was medical bills and the month before that it was new batteries for my scooter, which aren't cheap. Before that, it was shocks for the pickup.

But through all of this, God has been faithful and has met every one of these needs. My Social Security benefits started in March, just about the time all these unexpected bills started coming in.

That's what I call good timing, and I know it's because God had a hand in it. I never had to go without. The bank account may have dwindled down but then my check would come in and replenish it before the next bill arrived. God is so good.

Whether it's a physical need, financial or spiritual, I can count on God to see me through. He has never failed me, and I know He will never leave me nor forsake me. I just have to keep on trusting and believing.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors

I love it. I love it. Barack Obama is digging himself deeper and deeper into trouble, and it is eventually going to lead to his downfall. Obama's approval rating is at a record low 44 percent, and it's only going to drop further.

The latest controversy involves Congressman Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania. Sestak insists that the Obama administration offered him a job to bow out of the Democratic Senate primary. If this is true, it is a big deal, possibly even a crime.

At this point, there are only two possibilities: Either Sestak is lying or the White House is lying and may have committed a crime.

It is rumored that Sestak was offered the position of Navy secretary by a member of Obama's administration. Obama must have known about it and even authorized the offer. That means the president may have committed an impeachable offense by trying to bribe Sestak.

This could be another Watergate.

All of this comes amid widespread criticism of Obama's handling of the oil slick in the Gulf. This is the biggest environmental disaster in our country's history. Yet 37 days after the spill, Obama still hasn't done a darn thing about it.

The residents of the Gulf region are in an uproar. Even the mainstream media seems to have jumped on board in criticizing Obama's botched efforts. When NBC starts to criticize him, you know the "Anointed One" has fallen from grace.

This just proves what I have said all along: Obama is not competent enough to be president. He doesn't have a clue what he's doing.

The sad part is that America stands to be hurt most by his incompetency. With the 2010 mid-term elections only a few months away, that may be our only hope of recovering. Let's hope Republicans can stop Obama and take back control of the country!

Where There's A Will . . .

They say, "Where there's a will, there's a way." But sometimes you just have to improvise. I've been finding that out a lot lately, especially living in a new place and being in a new town.

All of the newer buildings and businesses must meet requirements for the Americans With Disabilities Act and are pretty accessible. But Pampa has a lot of old buildings downtown, which haven't kept up with the times. That makes going to these places a real challenge, if not almost impossible.

There's the famous Coney Island cafe downtown, for example. This little hole-in-the-wall cafe has been here at least 50 years. Mom tells about going there when she was in school (so you know it's been there a long time). She says she could get a hot dog and a coke for a dime.

The prices have changed a lot since then but the building has not. Even if I could get my scooter over the bump at the front door, I couldn't get down the long, narrow aisle which is always packed with customers and the waitresses that run back and forth taking orders.

Fortunately, the Coney has take-out! Whenever I get a Coney craving, Mom, who is sometimes a chauffeur and sometimes a deliveryman, is good enough to go pick up an order for me.

The grocery store is another challenge. The stores are up to date and accessible, but gathering my groceries can be tricky. So I've developed a system.

When I go in, I grab one of those small baskets that people can carry if they're only going to get a few items. I put the basket on the floor of my scooter between my legs. The first stop is the soda aisle. There, I take the basket out and get my two 12-pack boxes of pop. I put the two boxes side by side (not stacked) on the floor of the scooter, then I put the basket on top of the cartons of pop. It's a tight squeeze, but I manage.

From there, I can go through the rest of store and get my groceries. The basket won't hold a lot of stuff, but I can pack it in pretty good.

The trick is to put big items in first, like foods that come in boxes (crackers, snack foods, etc.). Then, I can pile smaller items on top. If I need to, I can carry a few items in my lap. It's a pretty good haul by the time I get to the checkout.

At the checkout, the clerk will put the bags on the handle bars of my scooter (This is Wal-Mart, where they don't carry out your bags), then I'm ready to ride out of the store. Sometimes, a passer-by will notice me (How can they miss me?) and offer to load the bags into my truck. That's always nice.

I leave the cartons on pop on the scooter. I load the scooter and pop with the lift on my truck. Then, I can unload it with the lift when I get home and ride it into the house without having to lift the heavy soda cartons each time.

I'm sure Mom would go to the store for me if I wanted her to, but then I'd miss the adventure ... and, of course, all the fun!

God's Grace

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is 2 Corinthians 12:9. It says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

I'm glad I know that even in all of my weaknesses I have Christ's power to help me continue on.

Life is hard. We all face difficulties. Sometimes, life throws you a curve, and you don't know what to do. It is in these times when we can turn to God and find our strength in Him.

Look at the apostle Paul. He endured many hardships after his conversion. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and put in prison. He was at times without food or a place to sleep. Yet, in all these circumstances, Jesus assured him, "my grace is sufficient for you."

The Lord took care of Paul. He will take care of us, too. Our God is bigger than any situation we will ever come up against.

I don't know why we have to go through some of the things we do in life. I wouldn't have chosen the path my life has taken in the past year. But Romans says, "All things work for good for those who love the Lord."

Maybe one day we will understand it all. But for now we go on trusting in God to see us through. My troubles are light compared to Paul's. They are nothing compared to the suffering Jesus went through on the cross. Even when I do come up against hard times, God will help me. His grace is sufficient for me!

This life is just a vapor and soon will be over. It's just a pit stop on the way to our eternal destiny... when God will make all things right.

Quick Hits

There are a lot of crazy things in this world. Things I never thought I'd see in the U.S. This is a few quick hits of some of the items that have been in the news lately that show the absurdity of the world around us.

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In California, five high school students were sent home for wearing patriotic T-shirts on Cinco de Mayo. The shirts had the U.S. flag on them. The pride of America. But some Hispanic students objected, saying the shirts were "disrespectful." The school made the boys turn their shirts inside out but allowed the Hispanic students to display the Mexican flag.

The Hispanic group said this was the same as Mexican-Americans wearing the Mexican flag on the Fourth of July. It would be disrespectful. No it wouldn't! This is America, where we have freedom of expression. Or at least we did.

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In a similar case, a teacher called a seventh-grader's drawing of the American flag "offensive." The girl drew the flag and the words "God Bless America" as a project for an art class. Students could draw anything they wanted. The teacher said the flag picture was offensive, but she praised the artwork of another student who drew a picture of Barack Obama!

The liberals already expelled God from the classroom. Now they want to ban patriotism too. What happened to showing pride in our country? I guess that's part of the "change" Obama brought to the country.

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Some senior citizens were told they could not pray out loud before their meal at a seniors center. Apparently, some of the food at the center is subsidized by the government. Instead of praying aloud, the seniors were told they could have a "moment of silence" before the meal. This was done in the name of Separation of Church and State.

People have taken Separation of Church and State way too far. The Founding Fathers only meant to prevent the establishment of a religion by the government, not the exercising of religion. Our Founding Fathers would be shocked to see what's going on today and how far the country has strayed.

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Finally, Barack Obama turned down an invitation from Rush Limbaugh to play a round of golf. Obama said Rush "should go play with himself." Real classy, Mr. President. But I think Obama confused Rush with Bill Clinton.

Supreme Court Injustice

Barack Obama continues to push his Socialist agenda on America. This time, it is through his nominee to the Supreme Court, Elena Kagan.

At first glance, it seems that Kagan would be an "OK" pick. It would be one liberal replacing another liberal on the court. Certainly, that's bad enough. But a closer look reveals some disturbing facts about Kagan, namely that she has a love affair with socialism.

World Net Daily reports that in her thesis at Princeton, Kagan lamented the decline of socialism in the country as "sad" for those who still hope to "change America." She asked why the "greatness" of socialism was not re-emerging as a major political force.

How scary is that? Someone with this sort of Socialist mindset should not be on the U.S. Supreme Court.

There's also Kagan's record as a major supporter of gay rights. She calls the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy "deeply wrong" and "unjust."

There are even reports that Kagan herself is gay. One columnist wrote that Obama "would please much of his base" by picking Kagan because she would be the "first openly gay justice." Obama officials, however, have denied the reports, saying Kagan isn't a lesbian.

I tell you, the more I read about Kagan the more dangerous she appears. From her history of supporting abortion to support for expansion of the president's regulatory power, she is clearly not someone I want as a supreme court justice.

A new online petition to the Senate opposing her confirmation begins gathering names today at www.wnd.com/elena-kagan I have signed it, and I hope many will join me to try to block this nomination.

My Mother

People tell me that my mom is a saint. I agree. I have the best mom in the world.

In a lot of ways, my mom has been my best friend. We have spent a lot of time together, especially in the last couple of years when I have needed more help getting around. She has always been there for me. When I was in Amarillo, she would come stay with me days or weeks until I got back on my feet.

There are days when I know she must be tired or she doesn't feel well herself, but she still comes over to check on me. She sacrifices so much for me.

She has always been that way, putting others ahead of herself. She gives and gives . . . to her family, friends, neighbors and her church. One way she blesses us is with her cooking, I can recall countless times when she has taken food to a sick neighbor or a friend in need. And, of course, I get in on that. She is always making a special meal just for me.

Over the years, Mom has done so many things for me just because she knows it will make me happy.

And I have talked her into doing some pretty wild things that I'm sure she would have never done otherwise. Like flying across the country to go on a cruise. I'm sure that wasn't on her list of things to do, but she did it for me. We will probably never do it again, but we will always have that wonderful memory.

We may not agree on everything. In fact, we disagree on quite a few things. But she loves me anyway, and I love her so very much.

I know I do not tell her nearly enough how much I appreciate her. But on this Mother's Day, I hope she knows just how special she is. Mothers are truly a gift from God, and my mom really is the best!

Day of Prayer

Today is the National Day of Prayer. Despite the attempt of a federal judge to declare the day unconstitutional and the president's efforts to abandon our Christians values, believers across the nation are gathering to pray.

Our country is in desperate need of our prayers.

I rode over to the civic auditorium at noon for the local prayer gathering. It was good to see people coming together to pray. . . praying for our city, our leaders and our nation. And God is faithful. He hears us when we pray and will answer.

Chronicles says, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

If there was ever a time when we needed God to heal our land, it's now. But we must do our part. We must turn from the wicked ways that have invaded our country, we must seek God . . . and we must pray.

I know a lot prayer warriors in my family and at church, and I'm thankful for their daily prayers. It's also good to come together with other believers to pray. We need more corporate prayer in our country. It seems that whenever a church has a concert or special event, it's a full house. But when there's a prayer meeting, only a handful turns out. It's sad, but true.

As believers, we need to stand up and be bold. We can combat the evil in our country, but it's going to take prayer and commitment. I want to pray more. Let's all be committed to begin praying more.

We CAN make a difference through our prayers!

Monday Musings

One of the things I miss most about Amarillo is the concerts. Amarillo sees its share of big name country and gospel artists, and I loved going to see them (when the price was right, of course). I have missed out on several big concerts that have come through town just since I left there.

So I was excited when I heard that Gordon Mote was coming to Pampa. That's a big deal for little ol' Pampa town.

Gordon Mote is an awesome piano player and gospel singer. Besides being the pianist for all of the Gaither Homecoming concerts and videos, he also plays in recording sessions for many country music stars. He is the most requested keyboard player in Nashville.

Did I mention he is blind? He is. That's what makes him even more amazing. He was born blind and started playing the piano when he was about 3! It's really amazing to see and hear him. He mixes a country flavor with his gospel music.

Gordon was in Lubbock with the Gaithers on Saturday, and he brought his solo concert to Pampa before going to Amarillo for another solo concert. He keeps a busy schedule, and it was great to see him right here in Pampa.

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When I left Amarillo, I didn't think I'd have a chance to continue my newsletter. But now, after only a brief break, I am going to get to do the newsletter for our church: New Life Assembly of God. It's called Lifelines, and the first issue came out yesterday.

I am excited and thankful that they are allowing me the opportunity to do this. I will be writing an article, and it will have a message from Pastor Ben and announcements about the church.

I have Bro. Linney to thank for getting me started in the newsletter business when I attended his church in Amarillo. That was in 2004, and the newsletter has continued in one form or another since then. It evolved into the Word on the Street newsletter in 2006 when we used it in a street ministry to the homeless.

I'm glad that I will get to keep writing, and I hope it will be a blessing to others.


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I have been debating this gal on the radio. She is one of those "birthers" and insists that Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. because he won't show his birth certificate.

Now, I detest Obama as much as anyone, but I don't believe he was born in Kenya like this radio host says constantly. I sent her an e-mail to counter her argument. She shot me an e-mail back and the debate ensued.

Bill O'Reilly investigated this on his TV show, and he found the actual birth announcement from 1961 that appeared in two major newspapers in Hawaii. I pointed out to this twit on the radio that it's impossible to go back to 1961 to manufacture a fake birth announcement. Besides, if there was even a chance that this was true, don't you think the Republicans would be raising cain to expose it? It's simply not true.

Of course, radio girl is entitled to her own opinion. No matter how wrong she is.